Guitars Picks: Santa Cruz H13
In my years as a working musician, I depended almost entirely on one guitar: an OM (Collings, of course). As a result, I am deeply biased. Bouncing around genres and both fingerpicking and flatpicking, it’s always made the sense to me to have the most versatile, middle-ground guitar there is.
Until now. It only took a year and a half of working in guitar stores, but Guitar Acquisition Syndrome is finally getting me!
Especially if you’re a vocalist, it really doesn’t get much better than the 00-sized H13. The bass-rich oomph you get from the deep-body design is so satisfying to sing with, while the 13-fret configuration gives you some of the mellowness of a 12-fretter with a bit more fret access. Read Santa Cruz’s breakdown on the acoustic principles of the design if you’re curious.
To celebrate that, we whipped up this little sing-along feature on a pair we had in the store.
“I’ll Be Here in the Morning” (Townes Van Zandt)
“Last of My Kind” (Paul Burch)
With the right technique, guitar size shouldn’t be an issue for anyone. We’ve all seen those viral videos of tiny kids ripping solos on full size guitars. But I’ll admit, I’m coming around on the comfort aspect of 00s in particular. Maybe it’s because I’m below average height, but now when I see myself with a 00, it looks “right” to me. Or at least proportionate. And hey, when they don’t mean sacrificing tone or volume, why not?
Officially taking donations to my 00 fund, pls and thx.
Videography and audio by Thien Phan.
Videography by Cardboard Films. Audio by Kevin Harper.
